One of the things I found in the dumpster at the same time as the Schlage/Recognition Systems Handkey II was a Ganz ZC-D5212NHA security camera. It was packed away neatly in its original box -- which was, as you can see -- labeled "BaD" - In other words "Fix Me, Please!"
The clear dome was still plastic wrapped as shown in the photo below. The box contained all the original stuff as well -- install cutting/drilling templates, mounting hardware and all that. Obviously, this camera was never installed.
You can see a capacitor that had broken from the backplane in the above photo. My best guess is that the installer broke it off accidentally while messing with the camera pivot, then discarded it.
This electronics repair task is pretty straight-forward. These are chip-base electrolytic capacitors with surface mount tabs instead of the more common through-hole electrolytic caps. Soldering this one back on was a little tricky because I had to take care not to overheat the capacitor. It was by no means impossible, though.
Once re-assembled, this camera works just like any of the other CCTV Cameras I've played with in the past. The monitor below is displaying the video feed (upside down) from the camera. It works fine and can go fish-eye wide-angle or up to 4x zoom. It also features a really crisp sensor that works very well in low-light conditions. Boots is wondering if his hijinks will be caught on video now.
I haven't completely decided what I'll do with this one yet. If CCCKC needs more security cameras, I'll probably donate this one. Otherwise, I'll probably sell it. I have plenty of security cameras around, and don't need any more. I could use the extra cash, though.
I decided I'd take the next step and clean up the box and re-package the camera like it was when it was new, just in case.
I don't have any dry-erase markers at home to do the permanent marker removal hack, but 91% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol should work fine in this case as well.
And just like that, it's as good as new. Retail value is about $230. Not a bad find.
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